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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24329665">something</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulofme/pseuds/soulofme'>soulofme</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>sheith sentence prompts [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drabble, M/M, Post-Canon, aka the canon we should've had, but we're ignoring s8 of course, let shiro have nice things 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:01:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,166</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24329665</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulofme/pseuds/soulofme</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>And now, after everything they’ve been through, Keith tries to smooth out Shiro’s rough edges. It’s a difficult task, and sometimes he wants to tell Keith to give up. But Keith does whatever he wants, unapologetically putting his desires first.</p><p>Apparently, he desires Shiro now.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith/Shiro (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>sheith sentence prompts [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1056407</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>something</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>sentence prompt: why are you looking at me like that?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s strange to not be fighting for his life anymore.</p><p>There’s something restrictive about all the unstructured time he has now. Shiro’s sure that there are hundreds of overworked employees who’d die to just sit around and do nothing. But that’s not who Shiro is. That isn’t who he’s <em>ever</em> been.</p><p>So, yes. Not being in war is unfamiliar in the worst kind of way. He’s more paranoid than he’d been when actual threats were made against his life. Now, the absence of danger somehow feels <em>worse</em> than any actual battle.</p><p>He’s sure—well, at least with a decent amount of certainty—that the impromptu road trip everyone collaborated on was to help make them feel…well, human. It’s surprisingly difficult to do things like shop for groceries or watch television. Menial tasks he’d completed in the past suddenly make him feel like he’s inhabiting a whole other body. And he’s been through <em>that</em> before.</p><p>Earth is weird. Compared to all the planets they’ve been hopping around on for years, this seems far too normal. Shiro doesn’t do <em>normal</em>. Not anymore.</p><p>“Hunk, if you don’t move <em>right now,</em> I’m gonna pee all over you!”</p><p>“Oh, gross!”</p><p>Shiro’s eyes drift to the rearview mirror, watching as Lance and Hunk begin to bicker. Lance, who’s currently sandwiched in the middle of the backseat, looks like he’s going to explode. He’s just pulled over to a gas station for the third time during this trip. No one told him that road trips would be so damn <em>expensive.</em></p><p>“Hey,” Shiro says warningly. There’s a flurry of movement, with Hunk, Lance, and Pidge all fighting to get out of the car first.</p><p>Hunk pops up by the passenger window, tapping on it. Keith sighs and cranks the window down. While he still has his headphones in, he finally looks up from scrolling through his phone.</p><p>“I’m getting snacks,” he says, raising an eyebrow at the two of them. “You coming?”</p><p>“No,” Keith says shortly. Hunk shrugs.</p><p>“Your loss.”</p><p>When he begins to walk away, Shiro remembers the whole reason he pulled over in the first place. He gets out to fill the gas tank back up, pays, and retreats back into the car. It's disgustingly hot outside, the kind of heat that makes him feel like he's on the verge of melting. He cranks the air conditioner up, cringing when his feels the longer strands of his hair stick to his neck. He glances over at Keith, who has his feet kicked up on the dashboard. Even this whole back to Earth deal has changed him. He’s calmer after the war, not as hot-headed and stubborn as he’d once been. He still has some fire, though, because he’s <em>Keith</em>.</p><p>The years have been good to him. He’s older, more mature, with an air of confidence around him he used to lack. He’s not a bright-eyed teenager hanging off of Shiro’s every word anymore. Shiro almost misses it, until he reminds himself that this Keith is the most goddamn beautiful thing he’s ever seen.</p><p>And that’s including the entire galaxy.</p><p>“Why are you looking at me like that?”</p><p>Shiro starts, heart leaping up to his throat. Keith’s phone is abandoned on his lap, headphones yanked out of his ears. </p><p>“Like what?” he asks, tongue two sizes too big for his mouth.</p><p>Keith crosses his arms over his chest, staying silent. Shiro eyes his profile, sharpened around the edges in a way it hadn’t been before. He tries not to let his sight linger on the scar marring Keith’s cheek, an eternal reminder of how he’d almost <em>killed</em> him.</p><p>“You know.”</p><p>Shiro sighs quietly. “Then you already know why.”</p><p>“I forgave you,” Keith says, voice so low Shiro almost tells himself he imagines the words spilling into the space between them. “Why don’t you forgive yourself?”</p><p>“Because…” he trails off, whatever defense his brain has curated dissipating.</p><p>Keith makes this sound then, something between a growl and a groan, and leans across the console separating them. His eyes are wild and dark, but the way he kisses Shiro is soft and measured. Like he’s giving him an out, allowing him to back out whenever it’s too much.</p><p>Shiro appreciates it. He touches Keith—his shoulders, his waist, the knobs of his spine—before he can convince himself he’s not allowed to. Keith’s hands, cupping Shiro’s cheeks, feel gentle. Gentle, which Shiro doesn’t think anybody would relate to Keith. Not right off the bat, at least.</p><p>But gentle is how Keith is around him. When he was younger, back at the Garrison, he was hesitant. Always careful of the lines he toed at, taking care to never cross them. Then there was Voltron, where he allowed himself to be open and honest when he otherwise would have been closed off.</p><p>And now, after everything they’ve been through, Keith tries to smooth out Shiro’s rough edges. It’s a difficult task, and sometimes he wants to tell Keith to give up. But Keith does whatever he wants, unapologetically putting his desires first.</p><p>Apparently, he desires <em>Shiro</em> now.</p><p>“Takashi,” Keith whispers against his mouth, honey-sweet. Shiro thinks he might get lost in his voice forever. “<em>Stop it</em>.”</p><p>“Why do you trust me?” Shiro asks before he can stop himself. It doesn’t make any <em>sense</em>.</p><p>“Because I know who you are,” Keith tells him, pulling back to sweep his eyes over Shiro’s face, searching for something. For what, Shiro doesn’t know. He hopes Keith finds it, or at least isn't disappointed if he doesn't.</p><p>“No, you <em>knew</em> me. I’m a different person now,” Shiro says.</p><p>He’s <em>worse</em> now.</p><p>“We’re all different now,” Keith reminds him. “That doesn’t mean we don’t deserve to be happy.”</p><p>Shiro swallows hard. “I tried to kill you.”</p><p>“You weren’t the first,” Keith attempts to joke, but it just makes Shiro feel queasy to know he’s on par with the scum of the galaxy. “Hey.”</p><p>He reaches for Shiro’s hands, intertwining their fingers. He squeezes, the pressure almost enough to hurt, like he’s trying to say something through the physical link of their bodies.</p><p>“I love you. I always have.”</p><p>And there it is. Shiro rubs his thumb over the back of Keith’s hand, mind swirling with a hundred and one different responses. Anything to change Keith’s unchangeable mind.</p><p>In the end, he gives in. Keith must sense it, because he grins, all smug. Shiro rolls his eyes and presses a kiss to his shoulder, just as Lance wrenches open the door and situates himself back in his seat.</p><p>“Oh, gross,” he says, miming gagging.</p><p>When Keith twists around to punch his knee, though, he’s smiling. He’s staring at Keith’s other hand, still wrapped up in Shiro’s own. He even shoots Shiro a wink, which may or may not cause him to burst into flames right then and there.</p><p>Once Keith is facing front again, cheeks a little red, hair escaping from its messy ponytail, Shiro realizes that he really, <em>really</em> loves him too.</p>
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